Not sure if this is the right section but i'm intending to use this for commuting so here goes. I was given a road bike wheel on the weekend which (after removing a couple of inches of dirt/grease) i've found has a Shimano Nexus front dynohub. The electrician at my work checked it and it's putting out plenty of juice so i'm now looking for lights that are compatible. A fleabay search only came up with 3 results in the US, and they were all the same unit 2.4W halogen with a supplementary flashing LED. Are there any modern LEDs (the kind that you can burn through concrete with lol) that have a connection to fit this hub?

When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments- Elizabeth West.

Yes, any dynamo light will be able to be connected to it. These days the dynamo LEDs are very bright, as bright as an Ayup. Skip the halogens - old technology and just lumbers you with bulbs that burn out.

Thanks for the tip padrone, there's a heap of lights on bike24, including the supernova e3 (why i had forgotten those when i read a review of them 2-3 months ago...) and these very nifty things http://www.bike24.com/1.php?content=8;n ... id=0;pgc=0 , being hub mounted makes me think they wouldn't be as easily visible as standard types but it's a very interesting concept.

It's becoming obvious it's not a 5 minute task to choose a light unt and i will need to do a lot of research but the Phillips twin LED models look pretty good.

I could not agree more about avoiding halogens, the first bike light i got was a halogen from Big W, it was absolutely useless.

When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments- Elizabeth West.

You originally spoke about the Nexus dynohub and getting some bright lights for commuting. Those Reelight things are basically a 'poor man's dynamo' - same electro-magnetic generation principle but just a whole lot dimmer. As you already have the dynohub I don't see any reason not to use it

When cycling with Reelight, you feel no resistance when you tread on the pedals. Moreover, the lights are completely silent

I can assure you that with a good dynohub you cannot feel any drag when riding. Certainly the case with my SON28, haven't ridden the Nexus yet.

Riding bikes in traffic - what seems dangerous is usually safe; what seems safe is often more dangerous.

Oh yea what i'm looking for is a light to suit the nexus given that i have got it for free, i just mentioned the reelights as i thought they were an interesting concept, i'm pretty sure they would be no better than the regular 5 LED tail/1 watt front AAA powered lights i have atm.

As an aside, a site i found while searching nexus hubs (i can't remember where) said the overload circuitry in the hubs assumes a 3W drain, ie a 2.4V front and 0.6W rear or 3W front light. That only mentioned halogen lights (the overload circuitry being to stop the bulbs getting fried on a descent), so firstly i'm guessing that wouldn't be a concern with LEDs, and almost all of the lights i saw on Bike24 mentioned overload circuitry in the light unit itself?

Do you happen to know if dynohub compatible lights usually come with a connection for the hub? The electrician at my work reckons i should just solder the wires onto the hub tabs, but i've seen the shimano connectors listed for $4.95 so i don't see a need for soldering the wires on.

When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments- Elizabeth West.

ldrcycles wrote:Do you happen to know if dynohub compatible lights usually come with a connection for the hub? The electrician at my work reckons i should just solder the wires onto the hub tabs, but i've seen the shimano connectors listed for $4.95 so i don't see a need for soldering the wires on.

I don't have much experience with the Nexus, but my son has a new Alfine and it has a connector that looks like this

Available here from Harris Cyclery. The wires go through holes in the plug and when fitted it clamps them onto the connections.

Definitely advise you not to solder wires straight onto any tabs on the hub. What do you do when you need to remove the wheel for any work on it?

Riding bikes in traffic - what seems dangerous is usually safe; what seems safe is often more dangerous.

ldrcycles wrote:Oh and re drag, i use my 44k commute as training so the more drag the better! lol.

I saw that claim and am actually a bit sceptical, it's operating on the same basis as the hub isn't it? So therefore wouldn't it also be producing some drag?

It must be causing a minute amount of drag - but much less than a 5% energy loss, and I've heard someone say that below this figure most people are unable to notice any extra resistance.

The Schmidt hub's drag is equivalent to a road climb rise of 0.2m in a kilomtre (1 in 5,000 gradient) when switched off, and a rise of 1m in a kilometre when turned on (1 in 1,000 gradient). ie. not detectable .

Peter White Cycles wrote:One way to think about the added drag of the Schmidt is to compare it to climbing a hill. Well, a really not so very steep hill. When the light is turned off, the drag from the hub is roughly equivalent to climbing one foot every for mile you ride. With the light turned on, it's about the same as climbing five feet every mile. That's why (in the daytime) you can't really tell that it's on, except at very low speeds (2 - 3 mph) when you can feel the hub pulse just a bit.

With experience in riding it I can confirm this. On my old set-up with a 'senso' light that came on automatically when light levels dropped, people would often tell me that the lights had come on late afternoon - I could not detect it.

Shimano Nexus and Alfine have some more drag, but a friend tells me he has similar experience with his. I now run the Supernova LEDs all the time - because I can

[edit] For some idea of what the lights are like, here is a B&M IQ Cyo, in use in daylight with comparison to car headlights

Thanks for all your help padrone, i actually had a look in the General Discussion thread for the first time last night and found the thread there about dyno lights.It was the Harris Cyclery page that i saw the connectors on. I agree about not soldering the wires on, the convenience of a dynohub is the entire reason behind getting a light for it. The electrician at work mumbled about connectors being unreliable and 'a soldered join is the best way, it'll never fail', he does have some, ah, odd views.

Still no idea what light to get, although i'm a bit wary of the 'senso' automatic jobbies, an extra something to go wrong? Do they have a manual on/off switch as well (i like having control, why i drive a manual car lol). Definitely looking at a front+rear kit, even if the dyno driven rear is the same or not as bright as the basic 5LED ones i have now, it would be good to know that i will have a rear light that can never run out of juice.

When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments- Elizabeth West.

ldrcycles wrote:Still no idea what light to get, although i'm a bit wary of the 'senso' automatic jobbies, an extra something to go wrong? Do they have a manual on/off switch as well (i like having control, why i drive a manual car lol).

Yes, there is a switch on them, just like the regular headlight. You can turn them off, senso, or on as normal. Mine has been very reliable, now on the wife's bike.

ldrcycles wrote:Definitely looking at a front+rear kit, even if the dyno driven rear is the same or not as bright as the basic 5LED ones i have now, it would be good to know that i will have a rear light that can never run out of juice.

I've been using this one (on the mudguard) on three of my bikes. The Seculite is a 1W led, so it's plenty bright, it just doesn't flash. An ancillary battery flasher is used for added conspicuity, but solid lights make it easier for drivers to judge range from you, so they're wise to have.

I agree about not soldering the wires on, the convenience of a dynohub is the entire reason behind getting a light for it. The electrician at work mumbled about connectors being unreliable and 'a soldered join is the best way, it'll never fail', he does have some, ah, odd views.

The electrician at work is right that connectors can play up and cause issues and soldered wires avoid these issues. but the first time you have a flat or need to remove the wheel for maintaince the soldered wires will give you bigger problems. you will never get a flat while your in your garage next to the soldering iron?

Any of the lights il padrone has mentioned will do you proud.I use an Edelux and love it to bits.I've not met anyone who buys a dynohub set up and goes back to batteries.Fit and forget has a lot going for it.I'd forget about the soldering - it would make puncture repair a bitch - just my 10 cents worth.

I definitely agree with not soldering the wires on (although i will be using Halo Twin Rail tires so punctures aren't an issue ). I still haven't got around to getting a set of lights, i'm waiting until i get my Shogun commuter finished (which is waiting for my gf's Superlite to be finished, and the Puch ladies bike, and sorting out the problems with my Stumpjumper, sigh).

When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments- Elizabeth West.